The characteristics associated with the Oz factor are described by Randles in the following way:

“The sensation of being isolated, or transposed from the real world into a different environmental framework, is one of great importance to our understanding of UFOs. It is almost suggestive of the witness being transported temporarily from our world into another, where reality is similar but slight different. A world were miracles can happen. This effect is so common and important that I have adopted a name for it… I call it “the Oz Factor”, after the fairytale of Oz.”

So, the Oz Factor can be described as a set of symptoms reported by many abductees, which creates the sensation of temporarily having left our material world and entered another place where the consensus reality norms don’t apply anymore. Randles again says: “It tells us several important things about what is occurring, most notably that the percipient has changed their state of consciousness. It is, in effect, an induced form of sensory deprivation that focuses attention on mental phenomena at the expense of otherwise overwhelming sensory input from the outside world. The result is a dreamy and weirdly silent state of mind that is recognized as peculiar by the baffled abductees, even though they do not appreciate what it implies.”

An example of the Oz Factor at action can be seen in the following Sheffield, UK case of March 1979. The witness, a thirty-two-year-old assistant in a local hospital had gone to make a phone call from a near box and was chatting to a man who lived locally, when “a grey disc with a dome on top appeared over the fish-and-chip shop. Inside, through a transparent window, they could see two figures who were staring down… The entire area was unusually quiet, and both witnesses had a fine view…Not a single car passed by during the encounter-which was considered very odd but which is a classic feature of the “Oz Factor”. Following the UFO sighting the woman began to experience psychic phenomena, including noises and objects moving about in her house on their own, and saw an apparition of her dead husband.”

It seems that we have a physically real phenomenon that, somehow, can trigger a subjective experience. The idea that, in some special situations, there might be some kind of pervasive ambient electromagnetic radiation that can induce hallucinations was proposed by some researchers. Canadian neuropsychologist Michael Persinger has conducted and published many studies showing how magnetic fields, generated in a controlled laboratory setting, can produce UFO-like visions and sundry hallucinations.

In 1994, Susan Blackmore, a senior lecturer in Psychology at an UK University, agreed to participate in one experiment:

“Persinger believed that by applying magnetic fields across the brain, he could cause bursts of firing in the temporal lobes-bursts just like those associated with the odd experiences… I was wide awake throughout. Nothing seemed to happen for the first ten minutes or so…Then suddenly my doubts vanished. “I’m swaying. It’s like being on a hammock.” Then it felt for all the world as though two hands had grabbed my shoulders and were bodily yanking me upright… Someone seemed to get hold of my leg and pull it, distort it, and drag it up the wall… Then came the emotions. Totally out of the blue, but intensely and vividly, I suddenly felt angry… Later, it was replaced by an equally sudden attack of fear. I was terrified-of nothing in particular… I felt weak and disoriented for a couple of hours after coming out of the chamber.”

The effects of strong magnetic fields applied to the brain are unknown, but certainly can alter the state of consciousness, and maybe transient floating columns of natural radiation, if they exist, can do the same.

References:

- Randles, Jenny, UFO Reality: A Critical Look at the Physical Evidence, London, Robert Hale, 1983.

- Randles, Jenny, Alien Abduction: The Mystery Solved, New Brunswick, Inner Light Publications, 1988.

- Blackmore, Susan, “Alien Abduction: The Inside Story”, New Scientist, No. 1952, 19 November 1994.

Poltergeists (“noisy spirits”) are said to make noise, move objects and appear as apparitions. These apparitions generally resenble humans, but are tranparent and sometimes able to move through walls/objects. Ghosts may also represent the souls of people who have died in a sudden or tragic way and are unable to move onto the next life because of unresolved issues or a desire for vengeance. Other sinister presences may be attributed to demonic forces or other supernatural creatures.

Scientists and paranormal researchers have been trying for decades to quantify and rationalise the countless ghost sightings which occur every year. Some of the earliest tangible proof of the existence of disembodied spirits came from the work of William H Mumler, who was an American spirit photographer active in the 1860’s and 70’s. Mumler’s portraits showed several people accompanied by pale translucent beings in the background of the picture when they were developed. The most famous one of these is of Mary Todd Lincoln with the spirit of her husband Abraham Lincoln. Mumler was later claimed to be a fraud, using double exposure to take advantage of people suffering from grief and clouded judgement.

Several houses all over the world are purported to be haunted, eg. The Lizzie Borden house in America; the site of a double murder, and the Hollywood sign; which actress Peg Entwistle jumped off to commit suicide. The inhabitants of these houses may be suffering from a host of ailments which would explain their claims.

Some scientists have reported a link between geomagnetic changes in the earth’s crust and activation of the temporal lobe of the brain. Stimulation of this area of the brain can cause the person to feel vigorously religious or feel as if there is an ethereal presence in the room. It can also cause hallucinations which take the form of pop culture motifs, most commonly UFOs and aliens.

Low frequency sounds may also be responsible for the subjective feelings of a haunting. Sounds lower than 20 hertz are generally inaudible by humans, but can create feelings of anxiety, sorrow, the chills or the sensation of being watched.

Carbon Monoxide poisoning can also cause abnormalities in visual and auditory perception. Symptoms of poisoning include listlessness, depression, dementia, emotional disturbamces and hallucinations. Phenomena associated with haunted houses including strange visions and sounds, feelings of dread and the sudden and inexplicable deaths of the occupants can be attributed to carbon monoxide leaks from furnaces or gas water heaters.

Pareidolia is the tendency to see patterns within random perceptions. Fpr example, shadows or tricks of the light can be seen to resemble human faces. In other cases, people who expect or want to see ghosts can inaccurately attribute everyday events to supernatural causes, like changes in air pressure resulting in doors slamming, or the headlights of a car reflected in mirrors perceived as sudden flashes of light. In addition, peripheral vision is very sensitive and can be easily mislead, especially at night or when the person is tired – this would account for ghostly apparitions being seen “out of the corner of the eye”.

More research is needed, but as yet, there is no definitive evidence to confirm or deny the existence of ghosts. Subjective experience is the only experience we have of paranormal phenomena and it is yet to be disproven.